I go to a few Keys games a year with the family (I’m a big minor league baseball fan and highly recommend it) and we headed up there this past Saturday for Hockey Day. It’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but we (and some other fans) were a little surprised to see the guy pictured below atop the dugout throughout the game, MCing the event in a Flyers jersey, after all the Caps related promo for the event.

I spotted a few other Keys employees wearing jerseys of other teams: one in a Penguins jersey, a second in a Flyers jersey and one in a Tampa Bay Lightning shirt. There was even one employee in an Erie Otters jersey. I guess the Keys’ concept for Hockey Day was different than what the promotional information communicated with all the Caps tie-ins. The guy pictured above in the Flyers jersey, Keys Promotions Manager Brandon Apter, sent @brookslaichyear a response on Twitter, saying: “Hey man, I have to represent the team I love on Hockey Day! I did get pied in the face, wasn’t that pleasing enough?”

The pie was a nice touch (as was Apter taking time to respond on Twitter), except I’m not sure he still had his Flyers jersey on at the time of the pieing—a pie right to the logo would have been fantastic!

Like I said above, it’s not a big deal overall, but if someone’s going to promote an event with a Caps player, the Caps mascot and the Caps cheerleaders, while also showing the Caps game on the big screen (and never saying anything about other hockey teams in the information promoting the event), then it’s probably best not to have the host in the jersey of a team that Caps fans detest. Maybe go neutral with the host’s jersey or promote the event differently so it doesn’t come across as so Caps-themed. Something tells me that if I showed up at a minor league baseball game in the Philadelphia area in a Caps jersey for an event involving the Flyers, I’d be hit with something worse than a pie.

Hockey Day – On April 7th at 2pm, the Keys will drop the puck with Hockey Day. This special day will include an appearance by former Capital and NHL Hall-of-Famer, Rod Langway. Also, we will be giving out Keys 2012-13 Calendars (HN Funkhouser) and Magnet Schedules. Stick around after the game to watch the conclusion of the Caps season finale on the videoboard!